Finding scarce food and toilet paper in Venezuela -- there's an app for that

A screenshot of the description for Abastaceme -- which lets Venezuelans find staples such as sugar, flour and toilet paper -- on Google Play. (EngTools-Dev)

CARACAS, Venezuela – Harried Venezuelans who devote hours scouring supermarkets for increasingly scarce food basics and toilet paper have just received some digital help thanks to a young software developer.

A free application for mobile devices written by Jose Augusto Montiel lets people notify one another where flour, sugar, milk, cooking oil and toilet paper are for sale. It has been downloaded more than 12,000 times.

'From what I've seen so far it's mostly toilet paper, followed by flour.'

- App developer Jose Augusto Montiel

The app, known as Abasteceme, or Supply Me, is Android-based and relies on Google Maps for geolocation. It leverages what is known in the tech world as crowdsourcing, with users notifying one another where a certain product is for sale.